Sena Jeter Naslund: Ahab's Wife: Or, The Star-gazer: A Novel (P.S.)Novel based on a brief mention in Moby Dick of Captain Ahab's wife. Brilliant derivative work, attempting to recreate a 19th centery heroine in her own voice. Too much effort is spent attempting to make the subject worthy of the effort and situate her in time, to the detriment of the story itself. (****)

Elizabeth George: Believing the Lie: An Inspector Lynley NovelInteresting. Complex. Inspector Lynley seems to have not yet recovered some essential part of himself that he misplaced with the death of his wife. Too much emphasis on some of the more self-absorbed and hapless characters (almost painfully so) (***)

Catherine Shanahan: Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional FoodObviously thoroughly researched with a fair amount of good information, and yet not rigorous. I feel the author gets ahead of herself, lets her enthusiasm and writing get ahead of what she can actually prove. This doesn't mean she is wrong but it doesn't also mean she is completely right. Still, worth reading. (****)

Ian McEwan: Sweet Tooth: A NovelRather annoyingly clever. Not as interesting as I hoped it would be until the end, when as I realized what he was doing, I was dismayed at not having seen it from the beginning. (***)

Francine Rivers: Redeeming LoveChristian Romance based on the story of the prophet Hosea. Very good and powerfully told for the genre, at times even poetic. (****)

Audrey Niffenegger: Her Fearful Symmetrythought-provoking novel of great intensity and detail masquerading as popular fiction. Does not quite work as a simple story but is very rewarding for those willing to plumb its depths. (*****)